PRINCE Charles visited war graves in Belgium to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele today. But what was the battle, where was it fought and who won?

In a speech at Tyne Cot cemetery near Ypres, Prince Charles today quoted his great-grandfather George V when he saw the graves there in 1922.

George V said: "I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come, than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war.”

As Britain and Belgium pay tribute to the war dead, here is a look back at the First World War battle that began today 100 years ago today.

Related articles

The Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, is remembered as one of the bloodiest offensives of the First World War.

More than 100 days of fighting in the summer and autumn of 1917, starting on July 31, left more than half a million men dead or injured on both sides.

In just over three months of conflict, there were more than half a million casualties - 325,000 Allied soldiers and 260,000 to 400,000 Germans - in the Belgian battlefields.

The Battle of Passchendaele became infamous not only for the heavy casualties, but also for the terrible conditions and mud in the trenches.

The battle began with a bombardment of shells which smashed the German drainage system and, together with heavy rain, turned battlefield to mud.

Getty

Battle of Passchendaele: Stretcher bearers in the mud at Boesinghe on August 1 1917

Who won the Battle of Passchendaele?

The Battle of Passchendaele is named after the village captured by Canadian troops on November 6 1917. The battle ended just days later on November 10.

The capture of Passchendaele gave British Field Marshal Douglas Haig an excuse to call off the offensive and claim success at long last.

Despite huge casualties, the offensive pushed the German army back just five miles. But the battle did weaken the German army and helped prepare the way for its defeat in 1918.

The offensive was known as 'the Battle of Mud' among soldiers and it came to epitomise the futility of war. War poet Siegfried Sassoon wrote 'I died in hell, they called it Passchendaele'.

Harry Patch, the 'Last Tommy’, who died aged 111 in 2009, fought at Passchendaele.

Getty

Battle of Passchendaele: Soldiers in the trenches on November 1 1917

Where was the Battle of Passchendaele?

The bloody offensive took place in Ypres Salient - the area around Ypres in Belgium which was the scene of some of the biggest battles in World War I.

The Imperial War Museums says: “The British-led offensive in Flanders aimed to break out of the Ypres Salient, capture the vital German rail hub of Roulers and ultimately take Ostend and Zeebrugge from where German submarines operated.

“Following the Battles of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August) and Langemarck (16-18 August) the offensive entered a new phase when between 20 September and 9 October forces under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig fought eastward along the Menin Road, through Polygon Wood and around the villages of Broodseinde and Poelcappelle.

Battle of the Somme: 100 years on

Mon, April 3, 2017

The 1st July marks the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, one of the largest battles of the First World War. On the first day alone, the British Army suffered terrible casualties amounting to 57,000 men